| Author | Message | ||
     Hugie03flhr |
I have a check engine light that comes on if I run over 75-80mph for more than 4-5 miles. When it comes on there is NO change in performance and when I exit the highway it goes off within a minute. I have checked the codes and the O2 sensor is the only thing that pops up. I got it off for a little while after using a few tricks I learned to clean the O2 but it didn't last. So now I picked up the alternative 02 sensor that people have listed works well and I'm looking at the position of the O2.... How da Hell do you get to this thing??? I did some research and some say remove the rear shock, one said drop the engine down and another said I can snake my special O2 socket over the sensor and use a swivel extension to turn it. How have you guys done it??? Thanks BILL | ||
| Teeps |
On my '06 Ulysses it was easily accessible, with a crowfoot o2 sensor socket, after removing the cooling fan. | ||
| Electraglider_1997 |
Just like Teeps suggests. Get the crowsfoot socket at Harbor Freight. I believe it is the 7/8" one. Verify the size on your new Bosch sensor. You'll have to remove your comfort kit shroud to get at the cooling fan. Take photos along the way so that things go back together correctly. Seems like the fan housing has to be rotated one way or the other to remove the fan. Then you should have access to the 02 sensor. The new Bosch sensor will have anti-seize on the threads and make sure it does. Have fun. By the way, You should be able to get that Bosch sensor at the auto parts store for about $20 and it is the exact same as the stock one. You get it from Harley and it will cost more than twice that amount and then some and it will be the same Bosch O2 sensor. One other thing. If you are running your oil too high on the dipstick it will blow up into your air cleaner and get burned by your engine and that will make your check engine light throw a Oxygen Sensor failure reading. | ||
| Steveford |
I don't know about Bosch, mine failed within the first 500 miles. YMMV, as they say, but I wouldn't get another one. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Thanks guys, I do have the crows foot socket from HF and I already picked up the Bosch sensor everyone recommends but I never ventured in this area. So let me see if I have this right. I pull the seat and there is a black cover that is sealed covering the rear shock I think or is that where the fan is hidden? Then I have to completely remove the fan or just unbolt it and push it to the side? I'm assuming the rear shock can stay put and I can get around it. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I'm pretty sure you'll have to at least disconnect the shock at the top to get to the fan, which means you'll have to support the bike. As Ed would say on Wheeler Dealers, it's a lot of "fiddly" work. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Haha! Love Edd China! I need to get this bike sorted!!! LOL THANKS | ||
| Portero72 |
My 09 had the same issue, repeatedly. I replace the sensor 3 times in 76k miles and the same thing always happened; CEL on at high speeds, off after slowing down. I finally figured out it was worn wiring somewhere. THAT is a pain to get to. So I bypassed the harness and went straight from the sensor, over the shock tower, to the ECM. Worked great after that. Never a repeat of that problem. Good luck. | ||
| Steveford |
You might as well just pull the shock out as that fan is a real bear to get in and out of the tunnel. It only goes in ONE WAY so a lot of patience is required no matter how many time you've done it. I've had good luck with this one: NTK NGK 21002 Same price as the Bosch, much smaller and no problems so far. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Portero72, the wiring on this bike is really starting to be a nightmare at only 17,000 miles. Thanks for the heads up on the possible wire short. I think you are right because it's very odd my cleaning trick didn't work and it only comes on at high speeds. Did you ever find the short or gave up and just bypasses it? I have both splices at the neck shorting and now this. WTF did Buell use light gauge wire to save an ounce of weight? | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
So you're thinking high frequency vibes get it to rub something? My X1 would throw an O2 sensor code on the highway if the header wasn't tight. The other "wire" of the sensor is the chassis ground via the header. | ||
| Portero72 |
Hugie- After the second replacement I started to suspect it was NOT the sensor itself that was the issue. If you trace the wiring from the sensor back through to the loom, it quickly becomes a spaghetti nightmare. Bypassing the loom and going directly to the ECM seemed the easiest way to go. You just have to peel back the wrapping to access enough of the wire on the ECM side to make a good splice. Check the wiring diagram, but I believe it was a grey wire. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Thanks Portero72, I looked it up and it's pin 32 grey and violet wire. I'm going to bypass the O2 wiring and go straight to the ECM. I think I'm going to cut the wire completely because if it's still connected to the shorting wire it will still mess up the O2 signal. I'm luck, the wire I need to access is near the top of the harness but this harness is really tight. Doing a Google search I found a few other people running into the same problem. Natex, exhaust is all tight and is stock. That was one of the first things I was looking for but gas mileage is normal and it's not running rich. Thanks! | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Update, Wiring isn't my strong skill so I went back to "kiss" keep it simple stupid. I pulled up a few videos on how to test O2 sensors and then tested mine. It is very strange. I can get up to .8 Mv on a hot engine from idle to about 3000 rpm. After that I revved it past 3000rpm and the voltage went crazy! It was 0 than 2volts, back to 0 and so on. So we all know flying down the highway at 80mph puts us well over 3000 rpm, so I think I found my problem. I'll swap out the sensor tomorrow and report back. Thanks for all your help guys, I always wanted a Ulysses from day one! I finally got one and I love it! As Edd China would say, "I just need to get it sorted!" | ||
| Hughlysses |
Sounds like you conclusively identified the culprit. Hopefully that will straighten it out. | ||
| Sagehawk |
just curious as to the speeds yall are running at, thats really above closed loop, correct? what exactly does the o2 sensor and ecm do when you are out of closed loop? does the sensor fall out of the loop as you really arent using it at this time? i always thought that you would be running off of the map at that point. I'm just trying to understand the functions of all of this. also,, you fall off the sensor under other operating parameters, like hard acceleration, etc? | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Sagehawk, from what I have learned over the years is these single wire O2 sensors only work when they get hot enough (over 300 degrees) under that it falls back to open loop. With stead strain on the engine at 3800 rpm, it should be in closed loop as the header temp reaches 600 + degrees. The ECM knows the engine is hot but it's not seeing readable volts from the sensor and throws a code. This is generally speaking, Buell might be its own animal. Update, it took me over an hour to figure out how to set the bike up safely to remove the rear shock and get to the O2 sensor. Once again I resorted to KISS. It seems just jacking up on the muffler while on the kick stand works the best! I can't believe I didn't just do that from the get go. The operations will take place soon. | ||
| Portero72 |
Keep us in the loop. SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!?!?!?!? | ||
| Rkc00 |
I think this is what is happening to my 09 right now. High speed CEL. Then it goes off a little later | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Rkc00, mine started like that and then it was staying on more and more at high speed. Then finally it comes on every time I blast down the highway but as soon as I slow down, within a minute or two it will go our. So I put a meter on the O2 and I saw it losses the voltage signal above 3000 rpm after its hot. It's turning out to be a bigger job than I thought. I'm trying to finger out how to break down this comfort kit without cracking anything to get to the O2 sensor | ||
| Motorfish |
I had the high speed CEL blues too. Replaced the O2 sensor with a Bosch 12014 for about $20. No problems after about 3K miles. Getting out the comfort kit shroud is a pain, but heating it with a hair dryer eased my fear of cracking it. It's takes a little time, but it's not too bad. (Message edited by Motorfish on August 30, 2017) | ||
| Rkc00 |
Never installed the comfort kit shroud so that would be one less problem for me | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Motorfish, that's the O2 I picked up. It looks like a well made sensor and it appears smaller. I was think of cutting a hole on the plastic just big enough to fit the socket down in there and then rig something to cover it up when I'm done. I would hate to tear it all down and then a year or two have an O2 sensor burn out again. Just because it looks good, doesn't mean it will last.... Idk, right now I'm getting over an upper respiratory infection and I'm pondering my next action... Thanks for the info. | ||
| Motorfish |
Yeah Hugie, we'll see how long it lasts, but I'm pretty confident it will be ok. I found out about using the Bosch sensor here as others have used them successfully, but Steveford didn't have good luck, so you may try the one he used. I wouldn't cut the plastic for fear of weakening it. Then when you really have to remove it (fan replacement), you may run the chance of breaking it. It really wasn't that bad to do, IMHO. Good luck with it and, more importantly, I hope you feel better ASAP. (Message edited by Motorfish on August 31, 2017) | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Good point Motorfish and I'll take your advise that it's not that bad to tear down. I'll take some pics and start chipping away at it. This has been the worst summer I ever had when it comes to riding. I have 2 Buells and 1 roadking that have sat most of the summer for one reason or anther but the Ulysses is the newest to the fleet! It's been a list of problems but nothing I can't handle but it's time I don't have. I'll get some pics up soon so others will know what they are in for. | ||
| D_adams |
Just did this on mine a couple of weeks ago, although it was an upgrade to widebands rather than a failure. The wideband has a simulated narrowband output, so no error codes thrown. Added wires on pin 1 and 33 at the gray connector on the ecm for the inputs from the widebands, it will be logged to generate a new calibration for the exhaust that's on it currently.    | ||
| D_adams |
Time flies when you're busy, guess I did this less than a week ago, not 2 weeks. I must be losing it. | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
Wow D Adams, that looks like a good weekends work. So I'm assuming you went wideband for the use of a gauge but I'm confused about the ECM connections. Are you saying our ECM can read the wideband and self adjust to whatever set up you are running ??? I have an 09 Uly so I'm not sure which year your bike is but you have my interest.... | ||
| Hugie03flhr |
The funny thing is I bought that same air/ fuel ratio gauge kit for my 82 corvette but I never installed it. I may have a new hom for it LOL | ||
| D_adams |
It took a couple of hours maybe, possibly 3-4? I wasn't timing myself on the install. The wideband outputs are ran to the 1 & 33 pins into the ecm, it's just for recording data. The ecm can't adjust or even use the wideband inputs to make changes while it's running. There's several ways of doing it though. With the recorded data, I'll have Tim at IDSPD generate a new calibration, load that and then check it again. The 1190 took a while to dial in, the XB isn't too far off from the current calibration so it won't take nearly as long to get it done. I prefer to use road logged data to generate working maps from, it's not like riding a dyno, so load, temp and whatever else gets calibrated in from real world use and riding. The last few times I used the Daytona WEGO-3 setup, once with a display, last time was without, but I added a custom housing and display so I know what it's actually doing, same as this one. It was considerably more expensive doing it that way, the Innovate setup is about 1/2 the cost. The WEGO-3 unit (with display, $585, without, $445, add the remote display & cup, + $275) is very nice, waterproof, etc. The Innovate one is not, so I'm running the risk of damage if I get caught out in the rain. Prior to those, I used a PLX-Devices one on my 1125, the display was a bit small though. |
